Orion’s gaze locked onto mine, sharp and calculating, like he was trying to figure out if I was lying.
Melissa parted her lips like she wanted to say something, but before she could, Orion stepped forward, stopping right in front of me.
“Where’s your husband?”
I pressed my lips together. “He’s been busy. He couldn’t make it.”
A ripple of whispers spread through the room, followed by hushed snickers. No one dared to laugh outright, not in front of Orion, but I could feel their amusement.
Orion’s expression didn’t change, but his jaw ticked slightly. For a moment, it seemed like he was going to say something. Instead, he turned and sat beside Melissa without another word.
Dinner dragged on.
Everyone around me kept gushing about how perfect Orion and Melissa looked together, while I barely tasted a single bite. I just wanted to take Uma and go home.
The rent here wasn’t too bad, I could afford it. And I wasn’t going abroad again.
The moment dinner ended, I was ready to leave, but Orion stopped me.
“Stay,” he said. “I need to talk to you.”
Melissa, of course, stayed too.
Once the room cleared, Orion turned to me, his voice as cold as his expression.
“Yara, we both have our own lives now. I’d appreciate it if you stopped showing up in mine.”
Melissa let out a soft laugh, her voice dripping with false concern. “Orion, don’t be so harsh. Yara’s an adult, she knows where the line is.”
They were perfectly in sync, their words rehearsed, coordinated. Like they had practiced this moment.
And I? I was the unwelcome outsider.
It didn’t matter what I said. They had already made up their minds about me.
So I just nodded. “I won’t.”
That was the end of it. I turned and walked away, Uma in my arms.
Orion called for his assistant to send me off, but I refused.
Back at the apartment, Uma was unusually quiet. Then, in a small voice, she asked, “Mom… do Uncle Orion and Aunt Melissa not like me?”
Children notice everything.
I forced a smile. “Of course they don’t dislike Uma.”
They just dislike me.
Uma hesitated, like she had more questions, but in the end, she just hugged me and whispered, “Mom, you worked hard today.”
My chest tightened.
I had held it together all day, but at that moment, I felt myself unraveling.
But I couldn’t cry. Not in front of Uma.
Tilting my head back, I forced the tears down.
After tucking Uma into bed, my phone buzzed.
A message. From Melissa.
“Yara, if you have time, let’s talk.”
I frowned. “You can just text me.”
She didn’t reply.
Later that night, just as I was about to sleep, my phone rang.
Melissa.
I hesitated before answering.
“I’m downstairs,” she said, her voice light, almost casual. “I just have one question.”
I sat up, instantly on guard.
“Have you thought about leaving the country again?” she asked. “Orion and I both think it’d be better if you did. Your husband’s abroad too, right? It’d make sense for you to go back.”
For a second, I just stared at the wall, caught between disbelief and amusement.
So this was what kept Melissa up at night.
Not guilt. Not regret.
Just making sure I stayed as far away from them as possible.
I glanced at Uma, sound asleep beside me.
Then I got up, grabbed my coat, and went downstairs.
Melissa stood beneath a streetlamp, her perfect curls glowing under the soft yellow light.
She looked at me, waiting.
I took a breath, met her gaze, and said evenly, “I’m not leaving.”
Even if just for Uma’s sake, I wasn’t uprooting her life again.
Melissa let out a soft laugh, the last trace of pretense slipping from her face.
With no one else around, she didn’t bother hiding the contempt in her eyes.
“Yara, I know you’re struggling for money right now,” she said smoothly. “What if I made you an offer? A generous one. Would you reconsider?”
